You’ve come. You’ve turtled. You’ve got questions about that mid-credits sequence.
We’re here to help.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem follows the coming-of-age adventure of turtle-human hybrids, Donatello (Micah Abbey), Raphael (Brady Noon), Leonardo (Nicolas Cantu), and Michelangelo (Shamon Brown Jr.). who dream above all else of going to high school and being cool.
After a fateful meeting with teen reporter April O’Neil (Ayo Edebiri), the boys decide they’ll win over both the local New York City high schoolers and the whole metro area — if only they could heroically capture the notorious villain Superfly, who’s been pulling off heists and knocking off local criminals. If they can do what the NYPD — and the super shady Techno Cosmic Research Institute (TCRI) — cannot, not only are they sure to be beloved, but the school will likely un-cancel prom! (And maybe Leo can go with his newly minted crush, April?)
What happened in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem mid-credits scene?
Credit: Paramount
Once the turtles realize that Superfly is 1) A mutant like themselves, and 2) dead-set on using his stolen tech and sci-fi brain to eradicate mankind and make all other animals into mutants, the whole “we have to save prom” plotline gets pretty sidelined. Now, they have to save the world — and not just for street cred.
After the day is saved with little help from their friends, the brothers head back to the sewer, where their mutant cousins have all moved in, bringing new life and sloppy cockroach kisses to their chosen family. This kooky cluster of critters sees them off on their first day of high school, where they ditch their ninja masks for human clothes, like khakis, polo shirts, wild-printed button-downs, hoodies, and baggy jeans. (Still in their signature colors of course!)
Thanks to their televised saving of the city, the boys are embraced by the students as soon as they walk down the hall. And April has been redeemed, her graffitied locker no longer reading “puke girl,” but “cool girl!”
However, in the mid-credits sequence, directors Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears reward those patiently waiting in the audience with a peek at the uncanceled prom!
The mid-credits sequence begins with a montage of the boys finding their footing in high school. Donnie turns on his camera phone and rejoices that he’s found a community of fellow anime lovers. Mikey is hamming it up with the improv troupe he dreamed of joining. Raph has joined the wrestling team, naturally. And Leo is helping April with the next step in her investigation: What’s the deal with TCRI?
Then, amid this study-buddy setting, Leo asks April to prom, and she says yes!
Cut to: all the turtles having a blast at the big dance, where April accidentally sneak-attacks Leo by noting they’re attending as friends.
Before we can dwell too hard on Leo getting crushed by his crush, the movie cuts to surveillance footage of the heroes on the half-shell at prom. TCRI — specifically its malicious leader Cynthia Utrom (Maya Rudolph) — are watching them. And that’s not all. She’s got a housefly in a container, which we can safely assume is the de-mutant-ized Superfly. And, she declares, “Bring me the Shredder.”
Boom: The familiar spiky silhouette of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ most iconic enemy lurks, overlooking the Manhattan skyline.
What does Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem mean for a sequel?
Credit: Paramount Pictures
Paramount has already announced a sequel and spinoff series for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and this mid-credits sequence suggests TCRI, Cynthia, and Shredder will play a big role.
In the first act, Cynthia’s minions ambushed and killed scientist Baxter Stockman (Giancarlo Esposito) to steal his special ooze. She’ll clearly stop at nothing to pursue her plan of weaponizing the ooze to make hybrid soldiers for unnamed armies. Presumably, Cynthia isn’t done trying to milk the turtles of their mutant juices (just as their father Splinter feared!) And, weirdly, the brothers did not demolish that milking machine, so that’s a very real threat!
However, Cynthia now knows her armed-to-the-teeth human soldiers are no match for a mutated rat and his four turtle sons. Plus, that family has now got all their mutated cousins in their crew! So, here comes The Shredder and presumably his Foot Clan army.
TCRI will clearly be the overarching evil of the rebooted franchise. But there’s a clue in Cynthia’s last name about how she, specifically, might become a next-level menace to the turtles. “Utrom” is the name of an alien species in TMNT canon. So, Cynthia might be hiding a secret of her own. More importantly, Utrom is the species that the globby brain-like monster Krang comes from in past TMNT incarnations. So…could Maya Rudolph’s ruthless exec become the next Krang? (Not to be confused with the MCU’s Kang.)
Shredder, on the other hand, is typically the archnemesis of the Turtles. In the past, he’s been a rival ninja, who hates Splinter. But Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem has been playing with the standard TMNT backstory, it’s hard to assume too much about this Shredder. However, there is a potential clue in the first half of the movie.
When Splinter ushers audiences into a flashback of how he became the turtles’ adoptive father, he recounts how he once took them to Times Square so they could see human culture up close. The tourists and New Yorkers in the city’s shiniest bauble lost their cool, chasing the “Ratman” down a dark alley. Splinter specifically notes one man would not give up the chase, and the flashback shows a man with a bat, backlit so you can’t see his face.
At first, it seemed this might be a nod to the sports-gear-wielding vigilante Casey Jones. But what if this human, who Splinter had to escape to save his sons — was the Shredder? Did Splinter defensively deface this attacker? Does he carry a grudge?
And what about Superfly? Is he just a fly for good? Or will Cynthia give him another shot at that hybrid life in hopes he’ll turn on the turtles and all of his mutant family, who he feels betrayed him?
We’ll have to wait and see when Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem gets its sequel or spinoff series.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem opens in theaters July 28.
